Will Power (left), Scott Dixon (center) and Simon Pagenaud celebrate on the podium after last year's Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. / Jason J. Molyet/News Journal

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LEXINGTON — He’s called “Mr. Mid-Ohio” for a reason.

No top open-wheel driver has won more races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course than Izod IndyCar Series veteran Scott Dixon. But what is the reason behind his four victories over the last six years?

“I really do love the old-school American road courses that are around,” he said. “Obviously in recent history, Mid-Ohio has been an event we’ve done a lot. Not too many years ago, Watkins Glen was a great one for us. I just love the flow. I love once you get qualifying, it’s very high levels of grip. It’s a very fast and flowing circuit — a lot of elevation and blind corners.”

No doubt, Dixon is dialed in at Mid-Ohio, but with 32 career victories placing him seventh on the all-time list, the New Zealander feels at home at a lot of spots. He has three victories at Watkins Glen, Nashville and Homestead and two wins at Richmond, Edmonton, Kansas, Twin Ring Motegi and Toronto.

That’s the gamut of IndyCar’s disciplines with road courses, street layouts, short ovals and super speedways all represented on his racing resume.

So there’s got to be more to his success in Lexington than the layout of the track and the environment around it.

“I was teammates with Scott Dixon last year and I think he’s good a multiple things, and he’s got the track figured out. There is no doubt about it,” Graham Rahal said. “He’s also very good at fuel saving and that’s served him well here in the past.

“It’s pretty hard to save fuel and go fast, and he’s the master of it.”

It’s a skill Dixon doesn’t deny.

“It’s one of those things that you get pretty good and you manage it well. Some guys struggle with it a little bit because they really only know one speed,” he said.

Mid-Ohio is unique in that it has proven to be a tough place to pass for the front-runners. That puts a premium on qualifying (where Dixon has started no worse than sixth since 2007), and it makes fast pit stops imperative.

But a light foot is just as important.

“It’s a strange technique, trying to keep the same lap times, but lifting off a lot more and sort of rolling through the corners as opposed to braking heavily and things like that,” he said.

While others are burning up fuel driving the 2.25-mile, 13-turn course with not-so-subtle elevation changes and off-camber corners, Dixon stays smooth, especially if he’s up front. He can keep his spot without threat of being passed on the tight course, plus those extra drops of saved fuel add up to give him a few more laps before he has to pit, extending his stop windows and giving him options in race strategy others might not have.

“I won my first-ever race in CART back in the day in 2001 (at Nazareth) in a fuel mileage race,” Dixon said. “It’s something I pride myself on and as a team we do a great job of that.”

To curb the fuel-saving technique that doesn’t always make for the fan-friendliest shows, IndyCar added five laps to Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, forcing the field to go an even 90 laps.

“Until we get to it and see how mileage is through the week with testing and the weekend, it’s hard to judge that,” Dixon said of the impact on race strategy by a longer race. “Five laps may make a difference. Last year it was tight, but not super tight. After the race, I probably could have done another three or four laps.”

Of course, strategy often changes on the fly. How many figured last year’s race to be caution free or the 2010 race to be mired by five yellow periods?

“It’s one of those things you try to have in your back pocket, but you can’t rely on it,” Dixon said of his fuel-saving ways.

He comes to Mid-Ohio as the hottest driver on the circuit, winning the last three races, including the doubleheader held on the streets of Toronto. A middling and disappointing season has suddenly turned into a chance at a third IndyCar championship.

“Driving for the team I do, Team Target is expected to win championships,” he said. “We started the year on the wrong foot. I guess you get a lack of confidence and that could be team-wide with engineers and mechanics. You really need turnaround events that sort of get yourself in the right direction.”

Going into IndyCar’s long awaited return to Pocono in early July, Dixon was seventh in the standings, 92 points out of first. The long tri-oval seemed designed for the speedier Chevrolet teams, but the better fuel economy from the Honda engines like Dixon used proved to be the winning strategy.

“That was a good turnaround point for us to win at a track where we maybe didn’t think we had a good chance,” Dixon said.

Then sweeping the new-this-year doubleheader at Toronto proved to be no doubt. As he’s been every year since 2006, Dixon is again a championship threat, standing second and only 29 points behind leader Helio Castroneves.

“He’s had a pretty stress-free season so far,” Dixon said of his rival. “He’s finished every lap of every race. He hasn’t had any mechanicals or bigger issues where a lot of other guys in the higher part of the championship have had quite a few issues.”

Coming to a place where he’s called “Mr. Mid-Ohio” only helps his outlook as the season enters its last third.

“We hope to do well. If we can do that, hopefully that’s enough to win the championship,” he said.